Local Rule Local Civil Rule 73.1: Consent Jurisdiction Procedure

Local Civil Rule 73.1. Consent Jurisdiction Procedure

(a) Upon the filing of a complaint in a civil case, the clerk will file on ECF, or in a pro se matter provide in hard copy, a court-approved notice (or a link thereto) informing the parties that they may consent to have a magistrate judge conduct all proceedings in the case and order the entry of final judgment. The notice will include a consent form that the parties or their attorneys must sign if they consent to the exercise of dispositive authority by a magistrate judge.

(b) In any case where all parties are represented by counsel, no consent form may be filed unless it is signed by all parties or their attorneys. In such a case, consent forms may be signed in counterpart fashion, if all signed forms are filed together.

(c) For all cases where both a district judge and magistrate judge has been assigned, if the assigned district judge approves the consent form, the clerk must reassign the case for all purposes to the magistrate judge previously designated to receive any referrals or to whom the case has previously been referred for any purpose, except that, in the Eastern District, upon application of the parties, the clerk must select a new magistrate judge at random. If no designation or referral has been made, the clerk must select a new magistrate judge at random.

(d) In the Eastern District, for all cases where only a magistrate judge has been assigned, upon approval of the consent form by the chief judge or a district judge designated to approve the form, the case will remain assigned to the magistrate judge for all purposes.

For relevant historical context for this local rule, consult the Appendix of Committee Notes.